Here's some exciting news for developers and mobile phone manufacturers--Skype is launching a new software development kit (SDK), dubbed SkypeKit, that will enable device and software makers to integrate Skype functionality with their products.

The kit will include APIs for features like voice and video calling, instant messaging and Skype's audio formatting based on the SILK codec--basically, all of the features we know and love from the Skype clients on our desktops. Hopefully, this move will entail the inevitability of Skype becoming a native client in many of our favorite mobile applications.

The kit is available today for Linux, though Windows and Mac versions will be available in a few weeks.